I recently came across a piece of rail marked BICO STEEL 45. It was rolled by the Bethlehem Iron Company of Bethlehem, PA, sometime between 1873 and 1899 in their Bessemer steel rail mill. How many other examples of Bethlehem Iron Company rail exist? I found two examples online and have heard of one or two additional pieces/slices. I would image that more examples are out there. In case it matters, I'd like to know about other survivors so I can tell interested parties how rare or common this particular piece is. I figured local museums might accept it, but an artist is also interested and asked me to find out if other examples exist.

Commercial Metals had an employee trace all the known rail sizes and deviations for a pamphlet many years ago. While Bethlehem Steel is shown with the many rail sections it rolled, the list does not show a 45# section. It does list several rail sizes with as "xx45" designation (1245, 1645, 2045, 2545, 3545, 5545, etc). I would be interested in the dimensions of the "45" rail piece. The chart lists the following dimensions: Height, Base, Head, Fishing, and Bar Height.

If anyone is wanting a copy of the rail section pamphlet, I will send one for just the postage costs. The pamphlet is 10 legal pages.
Harry Nicholls
h_k_nicholls@peoplepc.com

Very interesting. I'll take measurements on the rail later this week. Thanks!

The Western Railway Museum has about 1800 feet of BICO 55 rail in service. I believe it was rolled in the 1870s. It was salvaged from the ST&E many years ago. I was told that the ST&E had acquired the rail from the Central Pacific, but I have no proof of this.

Some of the rail has been in service on a 24 degree curve for 45 years and shows little wear.

David,

Here are the measurements for Bethlehem's 5545# rail (ASCE):Height - 4 1/16; Base - 4 1/16; Head - 2 1/4; Web - 15/32; Fishing - 2 11/64. All measurements are for new rail so, you can see how much your rail has changed.

Other steel companies have marked this rail as 5540 ( Carnegie & Illinois Steel);
550 (Lakawana & Colorado F & I); 130 ( Maryland P. S. ); 537 (Cambria);
5501 ( Tennessee C&I).
Harry

If you could have someone slice a half inch or so off the end of the rail Mike we'll do an analysis of its composition.

Thanks for all the great replies. It's great to know that so much rail is still in use in California! I measured the rail, and the dimensions came out to 2 3/4 high and wide, with a 1 1/2 inch head, which correlate to 25 pound rail. I wonder if I read the 45 wrong or if it means something else? In case it helps, here are photos of the rail:
http://community.webshots.com/album/578688134FCxGdr

Mike,

The "45" is Bethlehem's code for their rail. The "45" is used on all of their rail from 12# to 56#. After that, the coding went to ASCE rail of "70A" marking. Different rail companies used 90, 901 902, 903, 904 905, for variations in the 90# rail profiles, sometimes for just minor changes. Colorado was pretty straight forward in having the progression of increasing rail weight signified by an increase in the last number of the rail size (81, 122, 140, 180, etc.) which, I believe, was the number of the drawing for the rail approved for rolling. Lackawanna did the same. Carnegie used "xx40" for the rail progression identification ( as well as "xxA").
Illinois Steel had 16 different rail sizes just in the 56# rail (5601,5602,5603,...).

So, the "45" added at the end of the weight was their own designation for what ever was their meaning.

Harry

Thanks! The use of a code number is interesting. I'll have to ask around and do some research to see what kind of meaning/logic I can uncover for the 45.

Mike,

I just burned a CD of photos of several later examples of BSCo and Maryland Steel rails for a researcher. Can you send me photos of said BICo rails?

Here's some photos:


I can put them on CD too if that would help. Just PM me where to send it.

These dimensions correspond exactly to an ASCE standard rail section for 25 pound rail. The designation for that rail is 25AS. Could the brand on your rail be "AS" instead of "45"? "AS" of course stands for ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers). I have a relativly recent (1960's-70's?) Bethlehem Mine and Industrial Trackwork catalog ( #2341) which shows this section was still being rolled by Bethlehem in Johnstown.

I agree its 25 lb per yard ASCE.

Could 45 be the suffix for American Mining Congress rail? 40 seems to be a common suffix for American Society Civil Engineers rail. Did the AMC have standards for rail, or just switches?

Thanks for all the new responses. I am still doing research, but wanted to share the only other hypothesis anyone has suggested, which is that 45 could mean 0.45 percent carbon content, which is consistent with steel rails of the era.